Renault Kadjar or Nissan Qashqai?

The new Renault Kadjar is closely related to the big-selling Nissan Qashqai, but which is better?

When it comes to building cars, don’t discount the importance of being the first into a new segment. Renault knows as much, having popularised not only the seven-seater MPV with the Espace, but also the hatchback-based mini-MPV with the Megane Scenic of 1996.

My goodness has it missed the boat with the latest fad, though: the crossover. Think high-riding car with the styling and space of a 4x4 but the running costs of a hatchback. And so, where once no self-respecting family could get by without a Scenic parked on the drive, now it’s the turn of the Nissan Qashqai, which pioneered this class of car a decade ago.

Perhaps more surprising is that while often imitated, the Nissan is yet to be bettered. So it’s a smart move on Renault’s part to exploit its relationship with the Japanese brand and base its Kadjar on the Qashqai. Like the kid at school who copied your work, it is a lazy way to get ahead, but if it means you make the grade, who cares?

The Kadjar uses a TFT screen for the instruments

The Qashqai's analogue dials give it a more traditional feel

The Kadjar does just that, in part because the Qashqai is so good in the first place, but also because Renault has refined the design, liberating more boot space and using a retractable parcel shelf that is more practical than the Nissan’s fixed item. It also comes with a longer warranty and manages to squeeze a fraction more economy out of the three engines (one petrol and two diesel), so that the most efficient emits just 99g/km of CO2. Even the more powerful 1.6-litre diesel that I tested pumps out just 117g/km, as well as returning about 50mpg in our tests.

Last but not least, the basic model is cheaper than a Qashqai by about £500, which surely makes the Kadjar the one to have. That was the verdict I expected to reach, but actually, when you dig deeper and drive them back-to-back you realise that what Renault has done is copy the Qashqai’s answers, correct the couple it got wrong and yet still come out with a slightly lower score.

To be clear, it is in the details that the Qashqai edges ahead, Renault, for example, having made the spec of the Kadjar weirdly complicated. To have the useful false floor for the boot, for instance, means upgrading not just from the base model, but the one above that, too, making what was an £18,000 car now £20,500 (the same goes for the one-touch, easy-fold rear seats).

Also, from behind the wheel the Kadjar doesn’t feel quite as polished, either in how its pedals respond, or in its notchier gearchange.

Given that it’s still good in terms of ride, engine performance, handling and shutting out noise, you might argue that such details are acceptable compromises for the Kadjar’s extra boot space, in which case I’d say buy the Renault. It does, after all, still get a solid eight out of 10 in our full review.

But the class leader remains the one that put in the hard work in the first place: the Qashqai.

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